The Return of Nira: The Broken Road to 'Home'

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Andrew

Andrew

The Ancient One
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Former Emperor Adrin X, also known as Nira had become a myth or perhaps a ghost of some sort, the Lorenzian King's name was but a whisper on the lips of very few if any since the Norian exodus from Ayenee many years before. The cart's wheels bounced and banged along the broken road towards the Capital, less than amused Adrin watched out the drawn curtain as they neared the city.

Towering spires of chimneys spewed smoke towards the sky billowing upwards. A sense of nostalgia crept within his thoughts as the cart neared the gate. "Visiting the City, sirs. The former Emperor of Lorenz aboard.." the driver explained to the guard who stuck his head in the curtain meeting the icy gaze of the head of the House of Eitan. A smirk crept upon Nira's lips as his hand raised dismissively. "Do you mind?" A flash of tiny white jagged teeth became evident as the Norian Lord smiled. "CLEAR!" the guard yelled after a search of the luggage tied to the back fo the cart. Nira leaned into the padded seat and let out an annoyed sigh.

Like most of his kind, age was far from a distant factor. His appearance still young and vibrant. Pale flawless skin meshed over the raised cheekbones that held his visage at an aristocratic muse. The arching lines of his face rose elegantly into the slenderly pointed tips of his ears that twitched as the sounds of the city filtered in.

He had come after so long, his heart heavy with the burdens that had befall in him In Aymvu. Three red feathers still hung from the chain of his belt, representing each of his childern he had left in the distant realm. 'My only hope...' he thought to himself, the shattered heart that had drawn him home still cut deeply inside him, causing to gasp for breath as another pang of utter sorrow rushed through him.

Nira had accomplished a lot since leaving Ayenee the first time. He had lead the Norian Empire through its various wars, helped overthrow an oppressive force that had held the realm he had been defending. He had suffered through both love and loss, but this loss had struck him deep. There was just no way for him to glue the pieces back together, but something in the darkness of his sobbing sorrows had called him home.

The Eitan Manor-- Solitude, stood exactly where it had been left. A entourage from Shoishugo and the Gnomish villages had kept the place at least in usable repair. Much like him, the place needed a few shingles, an airing out and likely a new gardener. The gnomish folk had a thing for repairing things but green thumbs had not been one of their assets. The carriage came to a halt and Nira emerged from within it, taking a deep breath of the air as his overcoat flared out behind him like a cape. "Ayen..." he whispered looking out over the city.

'Home...' he thought, his own inner voice cracking under the mere emotion. It wasen't home. But it would have to be. Even then in the instance of walking up the walkway, he reached for a hand that was not there, was tempted to comment to an ear that would not listen. After all all these years, Ayenee had called home a broken soul.
 
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The sounds that echoed around the former Empress seemed barren....broken, distant, not right in her elongated ears, that twitched almost in anticipation. Across from her in the carriage sat her long time body guard, the woman that many feared to come across, Head Captain Genova Jacaraques, a beastly violent and focused woman. She stared into the red pooled eyes that slitted like a cat's eyes, mirroring her own silver eyes. But as usual everything was wrong....and she had let things go on for far too long.

"Neela..." Genova's voice rose up to Neela's ears like sharp razors from behind the dark black mask that covered the Captain's maw, Neela chosing to not wear it, she was not an assasin and was not going to battle, so there was no need for it. However her temper, her patience, her annoyance with those around her had reached its limit.

"I know we are close..." Neela's response was simple, almost devoid of emotion or caring. She had lost that feeling since she had come back, seeing what she had, considering everything she had been shown, and finally coming to one simple conclusion. It so happened that this conclusion was one she always reached....her heart belonged to only one no matter how she fought the idea. Her soul would always be wrapped around his.

Genova's lips pursed together as they melded back into a normal set of lips, the Pandryl-Ialryn was proud of her space not as Head Captain but as a bodyguard to the red headed women the entire home planet they shared valued so greatly....only one seemed to value her more that person of course Genova knew so well, she had dealt with him many times over the years, in secret behind closed doors, giving him exactly what was necessary to ensure that the woman before her was safe.

"Are you ready?" Genova asked her as she watched the silver colored eyes sparkle, both with what seemed to be wonder and silent unspoken pain. Neela's thoughts were keeping her from answering as she strained her head out of the carriage, her body was on fire, like a thousand little jolts of lightening were shocking her muscles and making it hard for her to sit still.

"I've been waiting for far too long for this..." Her voice sounded clear as a bell now as they approached the gates and Neela played with the ring at her hand, never once having had it leave her hand since it had been put there. She had stood behind in the shadows, waiting, pleading, and nearly begging on her knees for peace...a peace that never came.

A nod came from the black mohawk, flitting with the movement as Genova nodded in response, readjusting her mask. She looked over Neela's outfit, a simple black dress, long and flowing down her back but with the back exposed and the front cut off up to just a hand's length from her knees. Her own outfit was customary, black tank top and leather pants with boots, BaburKlara, her sword resting on her hip, Golgesi, Neela's sword lay beside her in the carriage.

There was abandon in that notion, as if fighting no longer mattered but that if she needed to she would fight forever to find him.

"Nira....where are you?" Neela whispered out and her mind echoed the question searching for her other half...the only half that made her know love existed, that her heart was safe always, and that he always would be waiting for her.

Her hand fell to her stomach, a bulge emanating as she gritted her teeth some. As the carriage stopped she breathed deeply and looked to Genova who disappeared out before her, taking her by one of her hands, the other still on her stomach as she carefully stepped down looking around. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and the lone eyebrow piercing glittered only slightly along with her ear piercings.

Neela looked around biting at her lip, confusion never etching her features, only wonder and a strong sense of pride, for she knew she was important in more ways than one and that she was needed. Her black heels hit the wobbly ground noisely as she walked forward, Genova close at her back, two swords strapped into her hip now. They could only wait, Neela breath baited, hand protecting her children and Genova....red eyes locked on every movement waiting for the man to show himself.
 
The eternal bonds of the soul sung their symphony, louder and louder. It was the song of hope, the song of sorrow harmonized. Tears seeped from the corners of tired eyes, where they had come from had exhausted him. It had broken Nira, it had shattered every defense and woulds bore deep within the core of that which was him. His children buried into the soils of a realm that was not even his own, his home had called him...Ayenee had brought him home, but it was not home until the call rippled against him. It seemed not even the division of realms could keep them apart. Hearts sung like whale song, through the ocean of time and space. “I am here...” He whispered, Solitude like a beacon the ancient sources of the Eitan Family's Power erupted ablaze before Neela and Genova and only visible to them. The Lighthouse was their beacon to home.

Nira had walked through the halls and had come to rest within the Library. Thinking almost seemed innate, actions almost instinct and not his own. Wax seals broken left colored pieces on the old oak drawing table as he opened those marked 'When all else fails'. Maps, blueprints, spells and enchantments quickly piled. They were the keys, their only hope...The way to restore their home within the realm that they had left so long before. She had not even reached the threshold yet and hope had already been restored.

He waited with anticipation, he knew they were coming. Every creek of the old manor made him expect the door to open. “Calm yourself...” he tried to assure his own festered nerves. His hands shaking as he pulled the Scepter Grayil from its box.
 
Silver eyes slitted up as the light shone, the words coming before that. Genova's head tilted to the side as she watched Neela's back tighten and her arm muscles lengthen and coil almost as if she were ready to sprint. Coming around to stand in front of her instead turning her head to speak to Neela, getting a good glimpse of the now hopeful look on her face and relaxing before she spoke.

"Lead the way, M'lady." Genova's tone was equalized as she stepped back a few steps landing beside Neela. Neela looked to Genova for only a second hating that she would even imagine of taking her eyes off of that light that seemed to warm her very soul and call to her as his voice had just done.

Her heels clicked quickly against the ground as she walked forward, sliding in a door Genova opened for her and letting her eyes flit around, the path still seemed exact as if he had laid out a map in her mind. Her hand still rested on her stomach as kicking ensued for a moment only to settle with soft strokes to her stomach. Genova kept an eye out as they walked knowing she would depart the instant they arrived at where he could be found, keeping track of the paths, halls, and what was there.

Soon Genova watched Neela take faster steps, shooting down a hallway and with a much annoyed look Genova knew Neela had found the door. As she came around the corner she stayed behind watching the woman intently, arms crossed across her chest.

Neela's breathing seemed to be labored by not pain but a almost insatiable need to see him, something that could only be stopped by his presence. Both hands rested on the doors panels until finally she pulled and stood back, her eyes instantly shivered with the change of his face in her vision. Now a soft spiked green settled into her eyes, the silver faded completely, as she stepped forward, one step in front of the other until she stood mere feet from him.

"Tia jhyli..." Her eyes sparkled with fresh tears, ones she had tried not to let come. But her body shook, both hands covered her stomach as she looked at him, her lower lip trembling beyond her control.

(Translation: My love ^.^)
 
This time the door did open. Nira's crystalline orbs widened only to become clouded by the puddling font of emotion. The Battle Mage's head lowered, crown ever hidden and missed with that which he showed her. He poured himself, tears streamed from body and soul. The scroll that had been clutched left his hands drifting to the floor like a feather then the thud of Grayil behind it. His knees crashed against the wooden slats as he looked up at her, his Empress.

Splash after splash tears fell like rain, soaking the floor soaking the crystal clutched within the talonous tip of the Grayil Weaver's Scepter. It began to rattle and shake upon the floor. Within its surface a rune began to form as strand after strand wove into the construct.

"Tia jhyli...." He whispered in return. His gloved hands reached for her, wrapping about her waist as his head fell against the tiny hump that encapsulated the very investment of their love and their domain within. His eyes closed, tears now soaked the black fabric of her dress.

It would be his surrender, the only he would ever give. The Chrystalis Shard embedded within the top of Grayal began to crack and open. A bluish light poured from within it over the scroll which had fallen to the floor. The Map, the Map to New Lorenz etched from the bluish sprawl of tendrils that leapt from the scepter's tip.

With each moment, action triggered reaction. The lines painted on the page. A new future written free from the hell-like realm of Ayem'vu which they had come. Survivors, and now in retrospect. It could be remembered...The ugly truth. Within the soils of that realm, the children of Noria lay side by side. Face down in their shame, in their loss...in their near extinction. Millions upon millions had been lost and beside them their Pandryl-Ialryn brethern. The powers which had plagued them grew dark and had no power in Ayenee.

Deep within Solitude, the sleepers began to awake. One by one, the protected would rise from their stasis-like slumber to serve the throne of New Lorenz. Upon the page the map to more of their sleeping people, a map to home. A map to the Last Sanctuary....

Born within Love, Hope bore its new star....
 
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Neela felt her knees threaten to go weak but him at his feet, made her remember how powerful and strong she was herself. How she could bring this....Titan....her Emperor....to his knees so easily, still shook her core incredibly.

"I'm sorry I was gone for so long...." She whispered, her lips still quavering as she looked down at him, having noticed vaguely the things that had happened when he saw her, but more concerned with him, and his beautiful soul that always sang such a symphony of adoration and worship to her own soul.

Neela felt it in that instant and shut her eyes, her tears still falling leaving wet tracks down her cheeks, that feeling....of those two babies inside of her stomach kicking almost wildly at his head, a laughter of happiness choked by a soft cry escaped her lips as she smiled briefly. The children inside of her knew their father was there and as her hand stroked through his hair her eyes stayed shut, almost unwilling to let this moment ever end.

"I told you....I would never leave your side. I meant that." She whispered as she remembered every memory she had with him, so much of it planning and learning together, growing as lovers and friends.

So many times she dreamt of having him beside her again and again, a soft whisper of indifference was suddenly crushed as she remembered where she was, with him. Away from hell and all its makings, all its traps and devious plans of hate. Nothing could penetrate this fortress and still she felt her body shaking a little, her hand clutching his hair in her hand tightly.

"If you ever leave me again....I don't think I'll survive." Her last words were meaningful, she knew they spoke volumes, and that there was a huge truth within them. She knew inside she had been slowly dying being so far from him, not being there to catch him as he fell....but this was a new beginning and this was their home....
 
"It will be okay..." He whispered, "I will not leave...We will build anew." His words became far more than words it seemed. Nira's eyes turned away from her for the first time since she had entered the library, their focus centering on Grayil and the glowing lines that now marked the scroll.

"Lorenz..." He whispered. The map was clear now, the restoration of their homeland within the lands of Ayen now laid before them. Long before they had placed their once great domain under a deep sleep, and locked it away from the prying eyes of their enemies.

That place they had been had bleached the memories from their mind, but had not erased them. With each passing moment of freedom, they would come closer and closer to remembering the destiny to which they ha been born.

Nira raised himself to standing, knees still weak in her presence. The slightest of smiles formed upon his lips before he leaned forwards to press his lips to hers in a loving kiss.

'Ai Jhyli o...' His mind whispered to hers. (I love you...)
 
She watched his reactions to what he saw, the words he whispered, she took them in as her law, her truth, and everything she would ever need to hear for the rest of her life. She knew full well what they had to do and as he stood and held her to him it was like the last puzzle pieces finally locked into place.

His lips were like sealing everything into place for good, nothing mattered in that instant everything felt right as both her hands found their way to his hair entwining her fingers through it.

For her his voice inside of her mind was like a rebirth, like everything in their past that was wrong....was fully forgotten.

'Ai jhyli o sai....' (I love you too) Neela heard the words in her head but they were laced with so much more, more than anyone could ever understand or even reach the level to which they occupied when like this. In these moments her heart never felt even a remote sense of longing, it felt overbounded by joy and eternal greatfulness that she had found her way to him.

Through what may have been the longest and most distraught events ever....he saved her more than once and in more than one ways, her soul, her heart, her body and even her mind were saved by the simple fact that he did love her.

Before she pulled away her tongue slid ever so carefully and lightly across his lips a smirks on her lips as she rested her arms on his shoulders hands still stroking through his hair, taking a moment to admire the perfection that was his face and then she looked over his shoulder at the items.

"We have a lot of work to do my love..." She smiled her green eyes landing on those orbs of blue and a sense of serenity swept over her as the kicking in her stomach continued almost as strong as it had begun the moment his head came into contact with her belly.

"Oh my....seems you've caused a disruption in my belly..." Her eyes widened as she looked down pulling back just a centimeter to look down at her stomach in amazement and wonder. They hadn't acted like this ever, it was as though they sensed her own joy and were feeling it as well.
 
Nira placed his hand lightly over the buldge that marked his heirs. A slow smile came to him, breaking the sorrow that had painted his face for so long now. They had finally overcome it. He whispered quietly, voice from mind and mouth echoing deep within her to the tiny ears. "Rest now..."

Deep beneath Solitude those who had been sleeping begun to rise. This restored Dynasty would need many hands, but now it had something it had lacked era after era. A restored and unified throne.

"We do have plenty of work to do..." He said, affirming her own statement as he leaned down to retrieve Grayil and the map. "We are going to have to establish ourselves again before we can even hope to make the journey to New Lorenz. Assemble a party to help us recover the Chrystalis shards so that the gate can be reopened." He set the scepter and map down on the table, and walked towards the drapes drawing them aside to reveal the Capitol of Ayenee that stretched out before them. "And we could not be in a more perfect place to seek out the souls brave enough to share this journey with us."

The Chrystalis shards had been scattered through the realms and Nira had only managed to retrieve the one inset within Grayil. They would need all the fragments to open the locks that held their once glorious Empire within its slumber.

From what had appeared to be the end of the story...The new story was born.
 
Neela's eyes dilated some as the kicking ceased. Breathing started to equalize as she slid her hands to rest on his a moment before they departed, the sound of the door creaking open as Genova entered seemed almost plausable and Neela turned to look at her bodyguard.

"Nira Eitan....It's been too long...and if I ever have to wait this long for her to be by your side again..." Genova's voice carried lithly through her mask as a hand reached up letting it fall showing the fercious litany of teeth that dripped with poision, a vibration of a low growl shook her maw and she rolled her head around her shoulders as her mouth shifted back into the normal lips."I myself will tear that beautiful throat from thine shoulders....My Emperor."

Genova's head bowed as she smirked at him, red eyes still locked on his figure as Neela placed a hand to her mouth covering the laugh that was threatening to erupt from her mouth.

"Genova...easy, he's not going to leave us this time." Neela finally laughed letting her hand drop to rest on her stomach with the other one. Genova leaned up straight walking over to him and placing a fisted hand over her heart and bowing once more.

"My liege...my emperor I pledge my honor and loyalty to you forever...again. I stand by your side as long as you have breath in your lungs. Do not misuse my trust or hers." Genova's blood red eyes had closed, leaving her vulnerable and yet at his mercy. Her loyalty and respect finally showing as it had the day she bound herself to Neela, by the oath of a warrior, she vowed to always protect her, no matter what the odds. Their lives were linked strongly.

Still nothing matched that of Nira and Neela's bond and Genova knew that full well as she lifted her head and opened her eyes stepping back and leaning on a wall as Neela walked past her to rest a hand on his upper arm smiling at him.

"This is our destiny...it always has been." She reassured and reaffirmed that which was in her head and his as well. She tilted her head to the side and looked up at him then down to the items around them.

"We can start again...and we can have better people at our side than we ever imagined possible." Neela continued after having stared at the items for a bit longer making a permanent note in her head and sighing softly.
 
"Nice to see you too Genova..." Nira nodded, although he did not want to make a mountain out of her words he did take them seriously. His left eyebrow perked upwards as she saluted him. "Loyalty and honor is a two way street. I expect no more from you than I expect of Neela or myself." Nira said, eyes fixated on the view of the city.

The word Emperor would need to be renewed, the foolish throne sitting morons of Ayem'vu had ruined it. In his entire time out of the realms he had encountered so few people of worth he had managed to come to hate an entire realm, and looking back he hated them. He hated what they had turned him into. His reflection looked back at him within the pane. Is this what he had become? Dark? Hollow? How could he return to Lorenz as its Emperor, with these wounds? The darkness, this..hatred had consumed him and he had no way to shed it. They had killed his people, his childern. His eyes centered on Neela..Their love, they had murdered it more than once. He cursed himself for being weak.

"This is our destiny...it always has been."
Click to expand...

'...This...is our destiny...' His mind played her words over and over and it would bring him hope. Her words had brought him light.It was hope. He moved to her and quietly wrapped his arms around her.

"We can start again...and we can have better people at our side than we ever imagined possible."
Click to expand...

"If that is what you want...That is what we will do. We will have to find the Chrystalis shards, so we can wake Lorenz from its slumber." Nira closed his eyes, forehead falling against hers. "We will restore what is ours..." he whispered.
 
A soft echo resonated through her mind as she listened to his responses to Genova, a voice that sounded not fully strong. She could sense it as well as hear it in his tone. But the feelings next came as no surprise, after everything they had been through...he....of all people had every right to feel as he did but she wasn't going to let him. If she had suffered in pain alongside him and survived...then she could save him, support him even in this time.

"My love....my heart..." She stroked her fingertips along the sides of his face smiling softly as she kept her eyes open to look at him, letting her nose nuzzle against his."We deserve this....this chance to be happy and free without condemnation. You are a great man, your heart is beyond beautiful, as is your soul."

Neela paused her a moment thinking about how it had gotten to this point, the events that had lead them to flee from the clutches of people that could have cared less what the two wanted....and all because they were jealous and envious of what strength they could show even when the odds seemed against them. Her fingertips stroked down, resting under his chin as she continued finally.

"Whatever you think...the thoughts of pain and humilation...of worthlessness and misunderstanding...strike them from your mind. They don't deserve a place in there anymore. This place...this world can be ours. We can lead like we always knew how but few would allow it to happen." Genova smirked almost seeming to disappear into the shadows and melding away giving them their privacy as Neela pursed her lips staring at the.....boy that would be king.....amazement and pride for the fact he was hers."We are together and we will not allow them to come here and touch us....and that monster you think you are...that you think you've become...it never existed...it was a creation of stupid and rotten people. You are Nira Crixa Eitan to me...that same great man I met so long ago, that man that knew what it meant to be a leader....he's still here with me."

Her fingertips fell from his chin resting on his powerful chest, feeling the steady breathing and hoping her words gave him renewed understanding and faith and hope. Her heart filled on its own knowing if she was strong here and now....everything would be better and would grow like a flower. She let her eyes flicker to the side out the window.

"That world out there....its going to be beautiful and we will find those shards I promise you. Because we have went through war after war and still come out shining and holding each other's hands...and hearts. Nira...love...wake up. This world is full of support and true friends..and warriors. We just have to find them that's all." Her final statement was pure and straightforward knowing they would need all the help they could get. And she would stand beside him proving everyone wrong that had said they would never make it together or survive....this was their moment....and she would never let another person step in their way as long as she had breath in her lungs.
 
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